kleph
13-03-2006, 10:01 AM
There is hardly a more durable tale in western civilization than that of the Trojan War. While many other stories have been immortalized in various forms it is almost impossible to think of another that has inspired such a wide array of great literature. And here is another.
Several years ago, San Diego artist Eric Shanower (http://ericshanower.com/es/index.shtml) began a daunting task - a ten-year, seven-volume work, Age of Bronze (http://ericshanower.com/aob/index.shtml), that will recount this legendary conflict in the medium of comic books (to use the tawdry phrase). The effort netted him 2001 and 2003 Eisner Awards for Best Writer/Artist – the most prestigious award in the medium. The trade paperback "A Thousand Ships" is the first volume of the work and compiles issues 1 through 9 of the series. The follow-up "Sacrifice" covers issues 10 up to 19.
If you expect the watered down version of the story in the style of Classics Illustrated (http://www.toonopedia.com/classics.htm), you would do best to look elsewhere. Shanower has a heck of a story to tell and he drops you right into the deep end. There are hundreds of named characters (http://www.age-of-bronze.com/aob/pronounce.shtml) and dozens of interwoven storylines to keep track of.
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/agamemnon_thumb.jpgShanower has taken great pains to base his art, story and characters on existing sources, whether mythological or archaeological running the gamut from Homer's "Iliad" through Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida." And the illustrations make it even more complex since the art draws upon the archaeological excavations of the places where the story took place: Knossos, and Pylos, among others, and especially Troy itself. Depictions of famous sites like Agamemnon's palace in Mycenae (http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/mycenae.jpg) jump out from the story and fuse the drama with history. (The depiction of Agamemnon is even based on the famous golden mask purported to be his face at left.)
One of the triumphs of this work is the delicate balance between the mythology and the mundane. The characters are acting out the drama of the Gods but they also are griping about the sand in the food. What this succeeds at doing is humanizing the great tale and making it vibrant for the modern reader. Because the durability of the story of the Trojan War goes far beyond the famous events it depicts. The epics of Homer are exacting detailed examinations of human behavior and how the complex interactions of fantastically driven men (and women) actually work. Shanower’s art and storytelling (http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/aobpage.jpg) are superb at bringing this aspect of the story across.
Agamemnon is an exemplary and dynamic leader of men. He is every inch a king. But he is also tormented by the curse of his forbears and their horrible human failings. Odysseus is the wise and skillful aide whose Machavellian nature come more to the fore hear than in many other works. The noble Achilles is as irritating in his preening manner as he is admirable for his skills as a warrior.
And the interactions are not simple. Paris steals Helen due to his pride and selfishness but Priam allows her into Troy out of a pity rarely expressed toward this central character. Agamemnon’s relationship with is wife, Clytemnestra, is turbulent, complex and, eventually, tragic for them both. You see that depicted here from the first appearance of them in the book. Surprisingly, Shanower chooses to depict the homoerotic aspects of Achilles and Patroclus, a point of the story almost always glossed over in contemporary retellings.
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/sacrifice.jpgThe telling if Iphaganea’s story in "Sacrifice" is one of the most perfect pieces of comic storytelling I have ever read and does full service to the works of the Greek dramatists who similarly recognized the terrible glory in the tale of this young girl’s tragic fate. And all of them are driven by fate in a way a modern reader may not understand but Shanower works hard to explain. The portents and prophecies have already told the outcome of the war and what will befall many of the individuals involved. But seeing them through to fruition is not as simple as a modern reader may expect. Being the bearer of a prophecy is often as much a burden as a blessing.
An interesting element has been Shanower's deliberate decision not to directly depict the Gods in the story. Although their hands are active in the action of the works of Homer and others, they are not physically present here. This led me to worry a bit about how some elements (notably the story of Iphigenia) could be told in this book and be honest to the original tales in a satisfactory manner.
I have to say, these points are where Shanower has shown his strengths as a storyteller. In every such case he has shown an astounding ingenuity that somehow makes the underlying drama resound even stronger. Like the very best of such tales, I have found that "Age of Bronze" constantly reawakens my curiosity in the source materials. Since I began following this wonderful work I have been compelled to re-read Homer, Euripides and many other chroniclers of this great tale.
A version of this essay first appeared on my website kleph.com (http://www.kleph.com/).
©2005 C.J. Schexnayder
Several years ago, San Diego artist Eric Shanower (http://ericshanower.com/es/index.shtml) began a daunting task - a ten-year, seven-volume work, Age of Bronze (http://ericshanower.com/aob/index.shtml), that will recount this legendary conflict in the medium of comic books (to use the tawdry phrase). The effort netted him 2001 and 2003 Eisner Awards for Best Writer/Artist – the most prestigious award in the medium. The trade paperback "A Thousand Ships" is the first volume of the work and compiles issues 1 through 9 of the series. The follow-up "Sacrifice" covers issues 10 up to 19.
If you expect the watered down version of the story in the style of Classics Illustrated (http://www.toonopedia.com/classics.htm), you would do best to look elsewhere. Shanower has a heck of a story to tell and he drops you right into the deep end. There are hundreds of named characters (http://www.age-of-bronze.com/aob/pronounce.shtml) and dozens of interwoven storylines to keep track of.
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/agamemnon_thumb.jpgShanower has taken great pains to base his art, story and characters on existing sources, whether mythological or archaeological running the gamut from Homer's "Iliad" through Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida." And the illustrations make it even more complex since the art draws upon the archaeological excavations of the places where the story took place: Knossos, and Pylos, among others, and especially Troy itself. Depictions of famous sites like Agamemnon's palace in Mycenae (http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/mycenae.jpg) jump out from the story and fuse the drama with history. (The depiction of Agamemnon is even based on the famous golden mask purported to be his face at left.)
One of the triumphs of this work is the delicate balance between the mythology and the mundane. The characters are acting out the drama of the Gods but they also are griping about the sand in the food. What this succeeds at doing is humanizing the great tale and making it vibrant for the modern reader. Because the durability of the story of the Trojan War goes far beyond the famous events it depicts. The epics of Homer are exacting detailed examinations of human behavior and how the complex interactions of fantastically driven men (and women) actually work. Shanower’s art and storytelling (http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/aobpage.jpg) are superb at bringing this aspect of the story across.
Agamemnon is an exemplary and dynamic leader of men. He is every inch a king. But he is also tormented by the curse of his forbears and their horrible human failings. Odysseus is the wise and skillful aide whose Machavellian nature come more to the fore hear than in many other works. The noble Achilles is as irritating in his preening manner as he is admirable for his skills as a warrior.
And the interactions are not simple. Paris steals Helen due to his pride and selfishness but Priam allows her into Troy out of a pity rarely expressed toward this central character. Agamemnon’s relationship with is wife, Clytemnestra, is turbulent, complex and, eventually, tragic for them both. You see that depicted here from the first appearance of them in the book. Surprisingly, Shanower chooses to depict the homoerotic aspects of Achilles and Patroclus, a point of the story almost always glossed over in contemporary retellings.
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/sacrifice.jpgThe telling if Iphaganea’s story in "Sacrifice" is one of the most perfect pieces of comic storytelling I have ever read and does full service to the works of the Greek dramatists who similarly recognized the terrible glory in the tale of this young girl’s tragic fate. And all of them are driven by fate in a way a modern reader may not understand but Shanower works hard to explain. The portents and prophecies have already told the outcome of the war and what will befall many of the individuals involved. But seeing them through to fruition is not as simple as a modern reader may expect. Being the bearer of a prophecy is often as much a burden as a blessing.
An interesting element has been Shanower's deliberate decision not to directly depict the Gods in the story. Although their hands are active in the action of the works of Homer and others, they are not physically present here. This led me to worry a bit about how some elements (notably the story of Iphigenia) could be told in this book and be honest to the original tales in a satisfactory manner.
I have to say, these points are where Shanower has shown his strengths as a storyteller. In every such case he has shown an astounding ingenuity that somehow makes the underlying drama resound even stronger. Like the very best of such tales, I have found that "Age of Bronze" constantly reawakens my curiosity in the source materials. Since I began following this wonderful work I have been compelled to re-read Homer, Euripides and many other chroniclers of this great tale.
A version of this essay first appeared on my website kleph.com (http://www.kleph.com/).
©2005 C.J. Schexnayder